HS BASKETBALL PREVIEW: Lydia wants to help Rebels improve from last season

By Will Korn | wkorn@mrt.com

Published 3:25 pm, Monday, November 16, 2015

Photo: Tim Fischer

Image 1of/1

Caption

Close

Image 1 of 1

Lee's James Lydia goes in for a layup as Permian's Aaron Wright looks to block Tuesday evening, 2-3-15, at the Chaparral Center. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Lee's James Lydia goes in for a layup as Permian's Aaron Wright looks to block Tuesday evening, 2-3-15, at the Chaparral Center. Tim Fischer\Reporter-Telegram

Photo: Tim Fischer

HS BASKETBALL PREVIEW: Lydia wants to help Rebels improve from last season

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

Last season was long and painful for James Lydia and the Lee boys basketball team. The Rebels played hard but couldn’t come out on the winning side very often, as they limped to a 3-26 overall record.

Nine of the Rebels’ players from last season’s struggle either graduated or chose not to come back to the program this year. But Lydia — one of just three returning varsity players from the 2014-15 campaign — is determined to help create a better, more fruitful experience this season for his many new teammates.

Lydia, speaking straight to the point, said things are pretty simple for his Rebels coming into the new season.

“(We need) to forget about what happened last year and do better,” Lydia, a 6-foot-4 junior forward said. “Get on the grind.”

Lee head coach Chris Packer has always preached playing with maximum effort. Things rarely went his team’s way last season, but at the end of the year the Rebels were still in position to possibly earn the fourth playoff spot in District 3-6A with one game to play.

The Rebels’ refusal to give up on the season kept them in the playoff race and Packer understands the importance of continuing to work hard and play together regardless of circumstances.

He said that will be especially critical for a team with several new players who are trying to help re-assert the program. Packer also knows that he has players — such as Lydia — who went through the battles with him last year and have had success in the past at different levels of the game.

“Some of these guys are a year older, and they’ve been through it, and they’ve had success at the feeder schools,” Packer said. “Now that we’ve been through it (last season) and we’re still here, hopefully guys will know that every possession counts.

“(Every) defensive possession, offensive possession, every shot means something. We’ve got to take pride in each other and worry about what we do.”

A strong camaraderie will also be of particular importance to the Rebels this year. With almost an entirely new roster, how the team develops chemistry will go a long way in determining the Rebels’ playoff prospects in February.

As one of the leaders and most experienced players on the team, Lydia said that chemistry has already begun to develop at practice as the new players become familiar with one another’s abilities.

Even with a whole new cast of characters, one might not be able to tell that the bond between the players is strengthening.

“We play like brothers, and that’s all we need is brothers,” Lydia said. “We don’t listen to what’s happening on the outside. We focus on each other, and we want to win together.”

Lydia, who started several games last season, has been doing his part to ensure things go more smoothly this year. Packer said he’s expecting Lydia to use his height and athleticism in order to be a more physical and assertive player this season.

“There were growing pains with a lot of them (last year’s Lee players),” Packer said. “Hopefully, (Lydia) figures out that he’s got to be tougher and he’s got to finish plays around the rim. Hopefully, he’ll continue to grow like the rest of these guys.”

And even though the program has experienced extremely limited success of late, nobody at Lee practice is holding anything back. The Rebels have taken Packer’s message to heart in advance of the new season.

“We all hustle, we put everything into it every day,” Lydia said. “We just want to win, be better than (what) we did last year.”

Coach’s quote: “This year, we’re going to get up and down and little bit. When the game is like this, a lot of the mistakes can be made up for by effort. That’s our mantra this year. We’re going to fly around, we’re going to fight. We may not always play smart, but we’re going to play hard and play together.”

Notes: Back for his third season with the Rebels, Packer has a roster that features several new faces this season. ... Only three of the 13 players on the Lee roster this year played last season, but eight of the 10 new players are upperclassmen. Three of the newcomers — Dedrick Strambler, Dustin Hunt and Rhequan Strambler — are joining the program from the football team ... One of last year’s key players, senior forward Kaleb Nunez, did not return to the team this season after he decided he wanted to stay healthy and focused on playing college football next season. “We wish him the best of luck,” Packer said. “If he does decide (to play basketball) we’d love to have him. But if he doesn’t, we wish him the best of luck and I know he’s got big things coming his way.” ... Packer said this year’s Rebels will be a guard-heavy, floor-spacing offense with more capable shooters than in year’s past. ...The Rebels don’t have an abundance of height — senior forward Rhequan Strambler is the team’s tallest player at 6-foot-6 — but Packer expects this will be a quick and aggressive group, both defensively and offensively. ... One of Lee’s top guards, junior Sema’J Davis — who was also the quarterback of the football team this season — is currently sidelined with a foot injury. Packer said he’ll be inactive for the first few games of the year, as the coaching staff wants to makes sure he fully recovers first.